Durham Cathedral, the 1,000-year-old World Heritage Site and one of Britain’s most visited buildings, is now protected by market-leading intelligent fire panels from Advanced.
Founded in 1093 and the final resting place of St Cuthbert, Durham Cathedral remains the seat of the Bishop of Durham, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England. As well as being the North-East home of the Magna Carta, which was taken to London during the Reformation and now makes occasional trip back to the north, the Cathedral and its environs have also featured in numerous Hollywood films including the Harry Potter franchise.
The Advanced MxPro panels specified for the Cathedral were supplied by Custom Advanced Systems Limited and installed by Expert Fire Solutions, both long term partners of Advanced. The fire system covers the entire Cathedral complex, including the new ‘Open Treasure’ exhibition that gives the public access to previously unseen parts of the Cathedral. It is comprised of two MxPro 5 panels, linked by fault-tolerant network cards and supplemented by a remote display terminal.
Alan Raine, Director at Expert Fire Solutions, commented: “Advanced panels are our first choice every time, combining innovation, ease-of-use and reliability. Durham Cathedral is a historic gem, but also a working ecclesiastical building with over 700,000 visitors each year, so the fire system needs to be specified to the highest level, while also fitting discretely within the fabric of the structure.”
In addition to the remains of St Cuthbert, whose body was brought to the mainland from Holy Island in 875AD following Viking raids, the Cathedral is also home to the remains of St Bede, which were interred in the Galilee Chapel in 1370. Born in Jarrow around 672 AD, Bede wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and is often described as the ‘Father of English History’.
